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Hi there. Recently, I started adding stop signs in my neighborhood, but I have a problem. I don't know quite well how to add the direction. For example, in the image bellow, the north stop sign is from those who came from south. Is this ok? I mean, does that shadow "triangle" translate the correct direction of the stop sign?

Regards.

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asked 04 Jul '18, 17:07

AntMadeira's gravatar image

AntMadeira
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edited 12 Jul '18, 06:52

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aseerel4c26 ♦
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Yes, the grey triangles indicate the direction the sign is facing. So in your picture, both signs appear to be facing the wrong direction, stopping traffic that has just turned onto the small street (alley?) rather than traffic turning from the small street onto Eugenio or Antonio.

You can modify the value of the direction tag and see its effect on the grey triangle. I assume that currently one of the signs is direction=forward and one is direction=backward, and if so, just reverse them.

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answered 04 Jul '18, 20:39

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jmapb
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Hi, jmapb. The stop signs are for those who come out of the small street into Eugenio and Antonio. It's not easy for me to explain this in English, but my doubt is: the wider part of that "triangle" is the direction of the stop sign, i.e., the direction is from the shorter to the wider part?

(04 Jul '18, 22:36) AntMadeira
1

The sign applies to traffic coming toward the wider part. So I'm pretty sure the signs in the picture are both facing the wrong direction.

This same triangle is also used to show the direction of traffic signal lights, and for those, it's a little easier to picture: Imagine the triangle as the glow from the light. (That's why it's curved on one side instead of a true triangle.) So the light is shining in one direction, and the traffic that's travelling in the opposite direction (toward that light) has to obey that light.

(04 Jul '18, 22:47) jmapb

OK, the traffic signal lights example explained exactly what I was searching. ;) To make my doubt clearer, I thought the larger face of the "triangle" pointed the direction of traffic. It makes sense for lights and now I understand why you said these STOP signs were facing the wrong direction. Thank you for your help!

(11 Jul '18, 18:54) AntMadeira

Glad to help... Just to add -- it's very common to omit the direction=* on highway=stop nodes. The direction tag is never needed on one-way streets, and it's not needed at a crossroads unless traffic from at least one direction is allowed to pass through without stopping.

In the picture you posted, it's good to tag the direction but it may not be 100% necessary. To quote the wiki ( https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dstop ), "direction can usually be deduced by finding the shorter distance to the priority intersection." The wording is slightly strange, but what it means is that a routing engine can guess the likely direction of a stop sign based on how close it is to the next road. But in my opinion it's better to be explicit in these cases, and your example is a good place to tag the direction of the stop signs to eliminate the guesswork.

(21 Jul '18, 20:31) jmapb
1

@jmapb: in the above case, apps such as OsmAnd should have no problem at all to determine the direction in which the stop sign is applied. Furthermore, iIt is only since of the latest releases of OsmAnd that the direction-tag is implemented. I have no idea about other routers. But IMHO, it's better to always add the tag.

(22 Jul '18, 07:08) escada

You can add a direction=* tag to your stop sign nodes. The "direction" is either forward or backward depending on the direction the way is drawn in OSM. I don't see any arrowheads in your illustration to indicate the direction of drawing but if the way is running from south to north, then both signs would be tagged with direction=backward along with highway=stop. Otherwise, they would get a direction=backward tag.

Cheers,

Dave

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answered 04 Jul '18, 17:57

AlaskaDave's gravatar image

AlaskaDave
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Hi, Dave. Thank you for your answer, but I didn't understand it completely. That street between stop signs runs in both ways. In these cases, how should I place the stop signs? When a street has only one way, the stop sign is obvious and doesn't need a direction tag, but in this case, those shadow "triangles" indicate the correct direction?

(04 Jul '18, 20:08) AntMadeira
3

All ways in OpenStreetMap have a built-in "direction", even for streets that you can drive both ways (and even for fences, footpaths - everything). If you click on a street in ID, you can see small white direction arrows appear. This is what AlaskaDave meant by "depending on the direction the way is drawn in OSM"

(05 Jul '18, 02:13) Andy Allan
1

@AntMadeira: see "Forward & backward, left & right" in our wiki for some more explanation on "direction" of OSM "ways".

(13 Jul '18, 21:32) aseerel4c26 ♦

Read this: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dstop

The "cone" is an arrow that indicate the direction. alt text

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answered 08 Sep '21, 18:07

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Edesma
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question asked: 04 Jul '18, 17:07

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